The Government consumed its express reform yesterday to repeal the crime of sedition, reform that of embezzlement and assault the Judiciary by modifying, via amendments, the system of majorities in the CGPJ to renew the Constitutional Court (from three fifths to simple). All this in the same text processed in a hasty manner -three extraordinary plenary sessions in the last three weeks- and in collusion with the president of the Congress, Meritxell Batet. Partido Popular and Ciudadanos did not vote so as not to give it the legitimacy that, according to critics, it does not have. "She is a cacicada", branded Cs. The reform, whose fate was pending before the Constitutional Court until noon - which in the end did not suspend it with the urgency that the popular wanted - is now sent to the Senate so that it can be approved there before Christmas. Legal sources believe that it could be next Thursday the 22nd.
The truth is that until the TC resolves the amparo appeals of the PP and Vox, foreseeably next Monday, Pedro Sánchez's plan to benefit the secessionists and renew the Judiciary remains intact in its processing. The lower house gave the green light to the proposed law (PSOE and Podemos accelerated formula to skip the mandatory reports) with 184 votes in favor, 64 against and one abstention.
The Manacled Opposition
The debate was by far one of the most tense and rough of the legislature -and that there have been very tough ones-; load of interruptions, reproaches and shouting. The opposition tried to paralyze the plenary session until minutes before the vote. Before beginning, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, spokesman for Vox in Congress; Inés Arrimadas, leader of Cs, and Cuca Gamarra, spokesperson for the PP, asked one by one and from their seats for the suspension of the Plenary until the TC resolves the appeals. Particularly applauded by the right-wing benches was the phrase that Arrimadas addressed to the president of Congress: "I will tell you the same thing that I told Mrs. Forcadell in 2017, Mrs. Batet, do not allow this." Batet argued that there was no communication from the Constitutional Court or any other official body to the Congress Table to stop it and gave the order to continue.
Two hours later, a few minutes after voting, with the debate already over, José María Figaredo, from Vox, tried to end the Presidency. His group informed the Table that PP and Vox had presented two appeals for constitutional protection. “Now there is communication”, he assured from his seat. But Batet counter-argued: "The communications of the parliamentary groups do not have a suspensive nature." And the voting begins. The opposition woke up handcuffed, shuffling in their chairs, just as they did the choking process of the last three weeks. PP, Vox and Cs insisted yesterday that "it was an absolutely fraudulent plenary session". During his speech, in a more belligerent tone than usual, Cuca Gamarra called Sánchez a "coward" for not having gone through a push for this reform as a bill. "Mr. Sánchez, with courage, bring it as a bill of the Council of Ministers, with all the reports and a real debate, where it can be amended," said the PP spokesperson in Congress. And she accused the PSOE of "camouflaging" with those who gave "a blow to democracy" in Catalonia and Batet of not respecting the fundamental rights of the opposition. The situation is not audited.
Gamarra (PP) calls Sánchez a "coward" for not presenting the reform as a bill and skipping debates and a report
So much so that never before has the TC been faced with the dilemma of having to decide to suspend the amendments to a rule before passing the first approval. The flood of resources that entered the guarantee body in the morning put the request for postponement of the Plenary on a platter for the progressive magistrates, which should have decided whether to accept the very precautionary measures requested by the PP. Given the "complexity" of the matter and the announcement by the progressive sector that it did not participate in the deliberation and vote, the plenary session was postponed to Monday. The Constitutional could knock down the amendments of the discord next week because the reform will still be processed in the Senate. This is an unprecedented episode that pits the Legislative against the Constitutional.
During the debate, Arrimadas compared the situation with the illegal referendum of October 1, 2017 and the disconnection laws in Parliament. “We are reliving what many of us suffered in 2017, it is the first time that it has occurred in Congress, but not the first time that it has occurred in Spain. The Government is repeating the same thing that separatism did in 2017, they are going to approve unconstitutional laws, ”said the Cs leader, applauded by both the Vox and PP bench. Arrimadas took the opportunity to lend a hand to the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to present a motion of censure against Sánchez. The 52 Vox deputies left the plenary session in protest and the party's president, Santiago Abascal, was shielded by his deputies at the Congress desk, a room that is in front of the Chamber. "The judges have been subjected to intolerable pressure," denounced Abascal; and he assured: "We are going to do everything in our power to prevent this coup and to censor this government."
PP and Vox resources
Partido Popular and Vox presented two amparo appeals to the TC to knock down the bill that reforms the crime of sedition, reduces the crime of embezzlement and modifies the parliamentary majorities to appoint the magistrates of the body. Considering that it is "unconstitutional".
The Constitutional Waits
The guarantee body had never seen itself in the dilemma of deciding to suspend amendments to a standard before its approval and parliamentary processing. Given the "complexity" of the matter and the announcement by the progressive sector that there was no participation, the Constitutional Plenary was postponed to Monday.
choked processing
On November 24, the bill was taken into consideration; On the 1st, its entire debate was held and on Tuesday, the Board of Spokespersons succeeded yesterday's extraordinary plenary after the presentation of the Justice Commission will be included in the text through amendments to reduce embezzlement and changes in the Court Constitutional and the CGPJ.
The ERC spokesman in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, granted the license to joke a bit. "I'm afraid that he will enter Tejero with a toga," he said, a reproach to the PP and Vox protection resources: "Because he no longer enters with guns, now they do it with togas." The same argument used by the PSOE deputy, Felipe Sicilia, as reported by ABC today. Jaume Asens, president of United We Can, also accused the right of "giving a soft blow to democracy." And, how could it be otherwise, given that the strategy of de-judicializing the 'trial' was drawn up by the former leader of United We Can, Pablo Iglesias, Asens defended the reduction of embezzlement and the repeal of the crime of sedition, let alone changes in the judiciary. Rufián said that there were "two million people in Catalonia who voted for independence options and, like it more or less, there were absolute majorities in Parliament in favor of this option", so "ERC is a vehicle for this desire, it is not a crime". From Bildu, Jon Iñarritu, expressed himself in terms similar to denouncing "the judicial war" of "extreme political, judicial and media right to block Congress." And he referred to today as the "most serious in democratic terms after 23-F."
Arrimadas compared to Batet with Forcadell during the 2017 'trial' and the day the voting and the Plenary stopped
For his part, Mikel Legarda, from the PNV, justified the vote in favor of his group by "the obstructionist attitude of the PP to renew the judicial bodies."
The reform repeals the crime of sedition and replaces it with a new one of 'aggravated public disorder'. This type contemplates penalties of three to five years in prison compared to the current ten and 15. In addition, PSOE and ERC reached an agreement -supported by Podemos- to reduce the crime of embezzlement without personal profit for the benefit of politicians investigated by the 'trial'. An 'à la carte' reform to rehabilitate the independence leader Oriol Junqueras as an electoral candidate if the judges agree with the interpretation made by ERC.
